The Pentax web store has some great sales today. Official Pentax Online Store | Pentax Digital Cameras | Pentax Webstore

The FA 31mm Limited is on sale for 773! smcP FA 31mm f/1.8 Limited (Black) | Pentax Webstore

The D-FA 50mm Macro is 303. smcP D-FA 50mm f2.8 Macro | Pentax Webstore

There are a lot of other lenses on sale as well although the price cuts are not quite as high generally.

I just ordered the 31mm :-)

[Al_Kahollick]

Where on your tracking are you able to see that it is SurePost? I've had deliveries through this method before but I don't see anything to indicate this is one of them. Tracking says it is on time to be delivered today but based on where and when it left last I'm not so sure. It would make sense if it were to be delivered to the post office today instead. Times listed are local right? Yeah no way it will actually arrive today.

Look up your tracking # on UPS.com, in the right hand column it will say "shipped by: UPS SurePost", across the bottom in the "additional information" tab you'll see the USPS tracking #.

[danny09]

Mine is shipped via UPS Ground. Lens is on the delivery truck. Cant wait now....fingers crossed

[allexinwonderland]

Arrived! I haven't had a chance to look at it at all yet though.

[allexinwonderland]

And now that I've looked at it I am pretty sure there's dust inside it.

[vZwicky]

Happy day, friends! The 31mm has finally arrived, rounding out my collection of the Three Amigos. So far all seems well.

While the long wait was excruciating at times, I'm happy that I finally received this lens at the discounted price. I do hope that Ricoh can tidy up how the Webstore operates, for their own sake.

Good luck to any who are still waiting. I hope satisfaction comes soon.

[danny09]

Phewww!! Finally received my copy of HD 55-300 WR after waiting for long and agonizing 6 weeks for that special Black Friday price. I was charged the correct amount. The lens looked BNIB, not used or returned as I suspected.Would I do business with PWS again? Maybe not....but who knows? Took a few indoor shots with the lens. Focusing seems very good. The HD coating certainly has added more contrast and punch to my images. Overall I am extremely happy with the lens. We'll see how it does for soccer AF tracking next week

[EJMzagsfan]

My lens arrived, the outer box had a significant dent in it. I opened the inner box and everything looked good. The lens seems to be in perfect order. The packaging was pretty week, just a few peices of light packing paper. Any lens I have recieved over the internet ( about 5) have been packaged better. I am relieved the lens wks, i was suspecting the worst.

[PKMike]

Finally received 55-300 today. Everything looks good. Will try to put it to use tomorrow and check on image quality. A very long wait indeed.

[danny09]

Havent tested the HD 55-300mm WR outdoors yet. I must have shot almost 200 indoors pics with it.Includes AF-9 and AF-27 tracking, low light dim light scenes. It is surprisingly good. Focus is spot on across the zoom range. Distortion, vignetting is really minimal. I suspect that HD coatings do make a difference. This lens is significantly more contrasty than my 18-135 which doesnt have the HD coatings. And I love the 18-135 to death...
For the money that I paid for the HD 55-300 I am super delighted with its performance. It punches way, way above its weight

[Al_Kahollick]

It punches way, way above its weight

Indeed, it's a very nice piece of glass! I got to try it out in October of last year, liked it then, but couldn't justify paying $450 because I don't use the far end of the range that much. At $250 though, I couldn't pass it up!


Well worth the wait, but I seriously doubt I'll bite any further PWS sales!

[starjedi]

Indeed, it's a very nice piece of glass! I got to try it out in October of last year, liked it then, but couldn't justify paying $450 because I don't use the far end of the range that much. At $250 though, I couldn't pass it up!


Well worth the wait, but I seriously doubt I'll bite any further PWS sales!

unless they sell fa 77 for $500.

[TedW]

My copy of the 55-300mm finally arrived. I was charged the correct price. So other than a really long wait to get it, I can't complain. Would I do it again? It would have to be one great deal, as this one was, and no rush to get it on my part.

I unboxed carefully. The shipping box has a medium dent but not the stores fault. The inside packing was paper and adequate. I'm 99% sure this is a new lens. I took it outside for a few shots and my first impression is that it is quite sharp. At 300mm, 100 percent view, I could easily read the 1" tall numbers on the auto license tag of my neighbors car 100 yards away.

I live near a lake so I hope to snap a few bird shots this weekend.

[ragde]

I got my 55-300 with the sale price and it looks new. However, I find that the zoom ring is too stiff and as a result I need to hold the camera too tightly to avoid movement when pointing to a subject; I feel that can't be right. The focus ring in contrast is much looser; however, specially more in one direction than the other, it gives a bit the feeling (sound) of friction against sand trapped in there. I have the 18-135 and its zoom ring is softer and I don't have to hold the camera so tightly to avoid movement while zooming; its focus ring feels very comparable to its zoom ring (with no feeling of sand trapped in there). That is, both rings in the 18-135 feel about the same and in between what I experience with the zoom and focus rings in the new 55-300. The rings in the 18-135 feel normal to me and in comparison those in the 55-300 feel abnormal (zoom is too stiff and focus too loose and sandy). I have made only a couple of test shots, and the 55-300 seems normal otherwise. Even if I decided to live with the stiffness of the zoom ring, the "sandy" focus ring worries me. I'd like to hear from other owners ... Thanks.

[mee]

I got my 55-300 with the sale price and it looks new. However, I find that the zoom ring is too stiff and as a result I need to hold the camera too tightly to avoid movement when pointing to a subject; I feel that can't be right. The focus ring in contrast is much looser; however, specially more in one direction than the other, it gives a bit the feeling (sound) of friction against sand trapped in there. I have the 18-135 and its zoom ring is softer and I don't have to hold the camera so tightly to avoid movement while zooming; its focus ring feels very comparable to its zoom ring (with no feeling of sand trapped in there). That is, both rings in the 18-135 feel about the same and in between what I experience with the zoom and focus rings in the new 55-300. The rings in the 18-135 feel normal to me and in comparison those in the 55-300 feel abnormal (zoom is too stiff and focus too loose and sandy). I have made only a couple of test shots, and the 55-300 seems normal otherwise. Even if I decided to live with the stiffness of the zoom ring, the "sandy" focus ring worries me. I'd like to hear from other owners ... Thanks.

It is difficult to compare without having both in hand.. but my copy of the HD 55-300 WR seems to do something similar -- the zoom ring is stiffer than the focus ring (which is pretty light). Not exactly sure the sound you're hearing but mine also makes a sound too... not, to me, like sand crunching but more of a 'whir' sound as I manually operate the zoom ring. the focus ring makes a faint, mechanical click sound as I turn it slowly.

On my copy of the 18-135 WR, the zoom ring is a little bit looser/lighter than on my 55-300.

That said, it is a telephoto WR lens, so maybe the tolerances are tighter?

[Docrwm]

It is difficult to compare without having both in hand.. but my copy of the HD 55-300 WR seems to do something similar -- the zoom ring is stiffer than the focus ring (which is pretty light). Not exactly sure the sound you're hearing but mine also makes a sound too... not, to me, like sand crunching but more of a 'whir' sound as I manually operate the zoom ring. the focus ring makes a faint, mechanical click sound as I turn it slowly.

On my copy of the 18-135 WR, the zoom ring is a little bit looser/lighter than on my 55-300.

That said, it is a telephoto WR lens, so maybe the tolerances are tighter?

Same here with my WR lenses. Tolerances are tighter. I owned 3 versions of the 18-55 and the WR was the tightest of the three. It should not be so tight that its hard to move however.